Combination wetness prevention cape / neck guard

ABSTRACT

A cape/neck guard that does not cover the entire upper body and only the back and a portion of the sides of the neck of a customer about to undergo shampooing or other beauty care treatment, comprising:
         a) a unitary fabric comprised of structural means to provide imperviousness to liquid water and permeability to water vapor or perspiration; the fabric having a raised collar section semi-circular in shape and a planar section in front of the collar capable of being tucked inside of a customer&#39;s clothing, and a planar section in back of the collar capable of being folded outside of a customer&#39;s clothing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a unitary, non-fastening wetnessprevention cape/neck guard used to prevent the collar, blouse and neckof a customer from getting wet during shampooing or other treatments ina beauty salon.

II. The Prior Art

It is the practice and custom, when hair is washed in a beauty salon tohave the customer seated in a chair that is reclined to the rear so thatthe hair is washed over a sink utilizing a sprayer nozzle. However, toprevent the customer's neck and clothing from getting wet due tosplashing or dripping of water during the washing and grooming process,a towel is fastened around the customer's neck and upper body to preventthe neck and clothing from getting wet. Nevertheless, during theshampooing and rinsing operations, due to the wick effect of the towel,water is transmitted from the towel onto the customer's neck andclothing. Further, because the shampooing and rinsing process is fairlylengthy, wrapping a towel about the customer is uncomfortable as itmakes the customer unduly warm.

On the other hand, when some type of water proof covering is utilized,such as plastic, it does not “breathe”, and the customer typicallybegins to perspire or get wet underneath the clothing—thereby defeatingthe attempt to prevent the customer's clothing from getting wet.

Further, fully covering the customer's neck and upper body to preventwater from getting on the customer's neck and clothing has thedisadvantage of over protecting the customer to the point ofdiscomfort—again, because of the tendency of the customer to get overheated.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,100 disclose the use of a cloth comprising a singlestrip of terry cloth fabric that absorbs liquid and stops cut hair fromrunning down the neck of a person during washing or cutting hair in abeauty salon.

A shampoo cape that includes a splash guard that bridges the capeshoulder portions when the cape is placed on a user and is receivedwithin a sink in which the hair of a customer is being washed isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,420.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,364 disclose a disposable towel for use in beautyshops essentially constituted of a support of synthetic materialcarrying an intermediate layer of defibered ground cellulose, and anon-woven material covering the intermediate layer and secured to thelatter on the support by gluing, and which is provided on one side ofthe neck recess with one or more tabs for securement to the other side.

There is a need in the art of salon shampooing to provide a unitarynon-fastening means for prevention of neck and clothing wetting thatlacks the wick effect of a towel, does not fully cover the upper bodyand neck of a customer, and is not an impermeable plastic that causesperspiration due to overheating of the customer because the plastic orsynthetic material does not “breathe”.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a unitarynon-fastening means for preventing a customer's neck and clothing fromgetting wet during shampooing and rinsing operations in a beauty salon,while avoiding the wick effect of a towel normally used in an attempt toprevent getting wet.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a unitary,non-fastening means for preventing wetting of a customer's neck andclothing during shampooing without utilizing a plastic or syntheticcovering that does not “breathe”.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a unitary,non-fastening means to prevent a customer's neck and clothing fromgetting wet during washing and shampooing in a beauty salon withoutoverprotecting the customer with garments that would cause discomfortbecause of the tendency of the customer to get overly warm when thegarment is wrapped about the neck and upper body.

These and other objects of the invention will become more fully apparentby reference to the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS and DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the unitary, non-fastening wetnessprevention cape/neck guard to prevent the neck, collar, upper garmentand skin from getting wet during shampooing or other treatments in abeauty salon.

FIG. 2 depicts the unitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neckguard on a customer prior to reclining the customer for shampooing.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the unitary, non-fastening wetness preventioncape/neck guard showing the semi-circular raised collar portion thereof.

FIG. 4 is a view looking along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there can be seen a perspective view of theunitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard. Theellipse-like shape cape/neck guard does not cover the entire upper bodyof the customer during shampooing, is impervious to water from theexterior or outside and “breathes” from the interior or inside, toprevent the customer from getting wet and over heated. Neither will thecustomer get wet due to any perspiration from underneath.

The ellipse-like shaped cape/neck guard 10 is characterized by a raisedsemicircular collar 11 positioned about ⅓ of the area of the articlefrom the front most portion 13. The inside section of the raised portion11 covers all of the back of the neck and about half way over the sidesof the neck when the rear most portion 12 of the guard is folded overthe exterior portion of a customer's blouse. The front most portion 13of the article is tucked inside of the inner portion of a customer'sblouse against the skin.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the unitary, non-fastening wetnessprevention cape/neck guard folded in place on a customer so that theraised semicircular collar portion 11 covers the entire back of the neckbut only about half of the area of the sides of the neck, while the rearmost portion of the cape/neck guard 12 is folded outside of thecustomer's blouse and the forward most portion 13 of the cape/neck guardis folded inside of a customer's blouse 14.

Reference is now made to a top view, as shown in FIG. 3 of the unitary,non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard. The back portion oroutside section of the raised collar portion 11 as well as the rear mostportion 12 of the cape/neck guard form the exterior part of the articlewhen folded over a customer's blouse. The exterior part of the collar 11is made from a material which is water proof or water repellent, and theinterior part or layer is made of a material capable of “breathing”.

The interior portion or the underside of rear most portion 12, whenviewed along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 is the material that breathes.

FIG. 4 is a view looking along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3, and shows theinnermost portion of the raised collar and the outermost portion of theraised collar a. The innermost layer is characterized by breathabilityand the outermost layer is characterized by waterproofness. Because theinner most layer breathes, the customer will not get a “clammy” feelingabout the neck and since the outermost portion of the raised collar isnot permeable, the customer will not get wet. Innermost layer ispermeable by water vapor, whereas the outside layer is impervious toliquid water.

In general, any fabric material that is impervious to liquid or waterfrom its exterior but is permeable to gases and moisture such as watervapor or perspiration from its interior will suffice as the material forthe raised neck and exterior portion of the cape-neck guard of theinvention. For example, the fabric may be a fabric elastomer compositeassembly comprising at least two sections of fabric elastic compositejoined together by a watertight joint, each section of the fabricelastomer composite being composed of a stretchable fabric materialjoined to a vulcanizable silicone elastomeric membrane layer, theelastomeric membrane layer being sufficiently thin to permit passage ofwater vapor therethrough while preventing flow of water in liquid formtherethrough, and the watertight joint being formed at least in part bya bond between the elastomeric component of one of the sections beingbonded to an elastomeric component of another section of elastomerfabric composite.

1. A cape/neck guard that does not cover the entire upper body and onlythe back and a portion of the sides of the neck of a customer about toundergo shampooing or other beauty care treatment, comprising: a) aunitary, non-fastening wetness prevention cape/neck guard fabriccomprised of structural means to provide imperviousness to liquid waterand permeability to water vapor or perspiration; said fabric having araised collar section semi-circular in shapes, a planar section in frontof said collar capable of being tucked inside of a customer's clothing,and a planar section in back of said collar capable of being foldedoutside of a customer's clothing; wherein said fabric is an elastomercomposite assembly comprising at least two sections of fabric elasticcomposite joined together by a watertight joint, each section of thefabric elastomer composite being composed of a stretchable fabricmaterial joined to a vulcanizable silicone elastomeric membrane layer,the elastomeric membrane layer being sufficiently thin to permit passageof water vapor therethrough while preventing flow of water in liquidform therethrough, and the watertight joint being formed at least inpart by a bond between the elastomeric component of one of the sectionsbonded to an elastomeric component of another section of elastomerfabric composite.
 2. A method of preventing a customer's clothing fromgetting wet during shampooing or other beauty salon treatments employinga cape/neck guard, comprising: placing a unitary non-fasteningprevention cape/neck guard fabric comprised of structural means toprovide imperviousness to liquid water and permeability to water vaporor perspiration, said fabric having a raised collar section in asemi-circular shape around the back and sides of the neck of a customer,a front planar section of said fabric inside of the back of the clothingand a back planar section of said fabric outside of the back of theclothing; wherein said fabric is an elastomer composite assemblycomprising at least two sections of fabric elastic composite joinedtogether by a watertight joint, each section of the fabric elastomercomposite being composed of a stretchable fabric material joined to avulcanizable silicone elastomeric membrane layer, the elastomericmembrane layer being sufficiently thin to permit passage of water vaportherethrough while preventing flow of water in liquid form therethrough,and the watertight joint being formed at least in part by a bond betweenthe elastomeric component of one of the sections bonded to anelastomeric component of another section of elastomer fabric composite.3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. The cape/neck guard of claim 1 in theshape of an ellipse.
 6. The process of claim 2 wherein the cape/neckguard is in the shape of an ellipse.